


Life is Like a ... Boxed Set of Harry Potter Novels?

by marklesparkle



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, i know the title's weird but give it a chance pls, mark's hufflepuff fight me, rated for language as usual, this one's for u jaemark anon !
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 00:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11725497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marklesparkle/pseuds/marklesparkle
Summary: Jaehyun's starting to think maybe the universe made a huge mistake about this whole soulmate thing until he sits next to the new Canadian exchange student in last period Literature.





	Life is Like a ... Boxed Set of Harry Potter Novels?

**Author's Note:**

> i always say soulmates r my least favorite trope and yet .. this is my second soulmate!au ... lmao @myself 
> 
> anyways!!!!! i've got a bunch of prompts in my inbox for different nct ships and i'm going to start a drabble series to hopefully complete all of them c: feel free to send one if u want !! (@jaesgrl)
> 
> prompt: on the day you’re meant to meet your soulmate, a box appears on your doorstep. inside the box is the perfect gift for them (i.e. their favorite book, tea, sketch pad, etc.)

For Jaehyun, it all starts with a box; an ordinary, cardboard one addressed to a Jung Yoonoh with no other visible markings on any of its sides.

More specifically, it starts at ten past seven on a regular gloomy Tuesday morning with Jaehyun wrapping a scarf diligently around his neck while his backpack swings from his elbow in the foyer. He’d promised Doyoung he’d meet him at the bus stop early this morning so the two of them could get to the school library as soon as the lights were turned on to study for this Friday’s physics exam and at this very moment, he’s running a few minutes behind schedule. Jaehyun can practically _feel_ Doyoung’s annoyance radiating from their planned meeting spot down the street as he fumbles with the front door, shouting a rushed goodbye to his mother as he steps into the frigid February air.

Just as he’s about to bolt down the street to see if he can make the bus on time and avoid being grotesquely murdered by Doyoung’s gloved talons, Jaehyun (quite literally) stumbles into aforementioned box. Automatically, he can tell it didn’t come from the post office because it’s entirely too early and Mr. Ji, the postman, is usually late on rainy days like this one, anyway. Unless the package was dropped off in the dead of night or by one of their neighbors who mistakenly received the Jung family’s latest Amazon order, there’s only one other option as to what it could be: his soulmate box.

Soulmate boxes, or presents, as they were more commonly referred to, were a pretty normal occurrence. It wasn’t rare to find children, teenagers, and adults alike carting strange, _very_ specific gifts around town with the unspoken intent to eventually give it to the right person (read: their soulmate.) Jaehyun constantly witnesses all types of people with their soulmate gifts, going about their daily duty. For example, two weeks ago Jaehyun had seen an old woman toting a life-sized unicorn plush through the train station and just last night while at the grocery store a little boy was dragging an encyclopedia through the soup aisle.

By now, such odd pictures were normal sights in his everyday life. That’s why, when Jaehyun comes face to face with his own box he doesn’t even begin to question the absurdity of what’s inside. He simply crouches down and works the box’s tape off with a single gloved hand as best as he can and then proceeds to open all four flaps so he can actually see what gift awaited his soulmate within the next twenty-four hours.

What Jaehyun finds inside isn’t _the_ weirdest thing he’d ever seen as far as soulmate boxes go, but it’s still pretty strange. And heavy. It’s a boxed set of all seven Harry Potter novels.

Doyoung’s never going to let him live this down.

-

As expected, when Jaehyun finally makes it to the street corner a little out of breath with his overly-stuffed backpack hanging awkwardly off one shoulder, Doyoung looks extremely miffed. “What took you so long?” he spits, making a show of how cold it is by rubbing his mitted palms together. “I could’ve frozen to death out here.”

Jaehyun knows better than to take the bait the taller male’s throwing at him, instead deciding to shrug nonchalantly. Years of friendship with Doyoung have prepared him for avoiding topics like this effortlessly. “I woke up late,” he explains. Which isn’t _exactly_ a lie.

“Then why didn’t you just text me? We live in the age of modern technology, Jae,” Doyoung rolls his eyes, silently casting judgement on Jaehyun’s intelligence. He seems to lose interest in the other’s sleepy face and bulky bag because just as quickly as he had jumped into the conversation, he’s already moved on, starting to walk the rest of the way towards school. Jaehyun’s shoulders sag in relief at the fact that Doyoung hasn’t asked any questions about his awkward posture or said a word about his huge backpack, but all the inner peace inside Jaehyun withers up and dies when Doyoung shouts from a couple of paces of ahead, “Hurry up! You and your bulky ass soulmate gift aren’t going to keep me from making 100% on Friday’s test.”

Jaehyun’s neck flushes scarlet red but he says nothing as he rushes ahead to catch up with his best friend since grade school, secretly grateful for the lack of dramatic revelations about Jaehyun getting his gift before Doyoung. He smiles as he finally walks in pace with the other, a single dimple popping out of his soft face, “Nothing can stop you from making the best grade in class, you practically memorized the goddamn textbook.” This remark earns Jaehyun a jab to the ribs but he laughs nonetheless.

“Memorization and comprehension of material aren’t mutually exclusive, you moron. _God_ , you’re lucky I take pity on the less fortunate and agreed to tutor you,” Doyoung sighs, acting more put out than Jaehyun knows he actually is.

“But _you_ were the one who asked _me_ to come with you! And since when did you take ‘pity’ on me? Because last time I checked, making fun of me for breathing isn’t considered—”

Doyoung abruptly cuts Jaehyun off when they come to a cross walk, pressing the pedestrian button with a little too much force. He stops and faces the younger, crossing his arms to let Jaehyun know that _that_ conversation is over. “ _Anyways_ , did you hear about the new exchange students? Apparently, there’s one who’s from America,” he says, eyeing Jaehyun’s face with more purpose than any other morning.

It more than likely isn’t a coincidence that Jaehyun was gifted his soulmate box on the day new exchange students arrive at their school and Jaehyun can’t help the sharp shock of fear that zips up his spine at even the thought of meeting whoever he’s meant to spend the rest of his life with. The addition of them being from somewhere other than his own home country scares the ever-loving shit out of Jaehyun because what if, one day, his soulmate wants him to leave everything he’s ever known and move to their own city? What will he do _then_?

Seeing the automatic panic that sweeps across Jaehyun’s face, Doyoung is quick to attempt to comfort him. “I mean, Taeyong said there’s probably some from Japan and Canada, too. Japan’s not too, too far from here,” he coos, dropping a hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. The light across the street changes to ‘WALK’ and Doyoung starts towards the other side, tugging Jaehyun’s elbow because the dimpled boy has temporarily lost all cognitive abilities.

The shuffle of their feet is the only sound that accompanies the two on the rest of their journey to school. Jaehyun only breaks it once they’re sat down in their favorite cubicle in the library, blanketed by the smell of books much older than each of them. He drops his bookbag onto the table with a thud, unzipping it with a shaky kind of panic as he pulls the boxed set of hardcover novels out, displaying them to Doyoung. There’s still plastic shrink rap over the titles, giving them an artificial glimmer.

“The titles are in English, Doyoung,” Jaehyun whispers, feeling his heart sink deeper and deeper into his stomach. “I don’t think my soulmate’s from Japan.”

-

After the morning bell rings, Doyoung and Jaehyun depart with wobbly smiles; Doyoung’s because of his anxiety for his best friend and Jaehyun’s because he has no idea who he’s supposed to thrust this twenty-pound box onto.

On his way to class, Jaehyun can feel the eyes of other students gawking at him and for once, he really can’t blame the curiosities of his classmates. He’s only sixteen; that’s pretty young to find whoever you’re destined to, he has to admit. Still, Jaehyun keeps his head high and makes his way to first block, trying to not pay too much attention to the obvious weight in both his backpack and heart.

 _Only three more classes_ , he reminds himself. _You can do this._

-

But, by the time the end of third block rolls around, Jaehyun’s starting to think that maybe he _can’t_ do this.

He’s on his way to his last class of the day and he can’t help but to question if maybe the universe made a mistake because he’s _still_ lugging around these books like a sack of bricks and everyone on campus is _still_ staring at him like he’s some sort of circus freak.

There’d been no dice (or soulmate) in first block math, second block anatomy, lunch, _or_ third block choir and Jaehyun can’t tell if he’s thankful or fearful of not finding his soulmate yet. He knows that the rule is that you’re supposed to find the person your gift is supposed to go to within twenty-four hours and it hasn’t been nearly that long but he can’t help but feel disappointed that his soulmate isn’t one of the new exchange students the entire school had been buzzing about all day.

Deciding to not dwell on his inevitable romantic doom too much, Jaehyun ducks into fourth period literature easily enough. He takes his usual seat by the window, not paying too much mind when the class starts to fill up and no one takes the seat on his right; he’s used to people avoiding sitting by him. Doyoung says it’s because he’s apparently ‘really hot’ but Jaehyun just thinks it’s because of his resting bitch face.

Like the last three classes he’d endured, Jaehyun listens intently as role is called; he hears no new names and once again the rock of utter despair wedges itself into Jaehyun’s stomach as he wrings his hands nervously. Just as he’s about to give up hope and text Doyoung a bunch of crying stickers in a sad attempt for comfort, there’s a hesitant knock on the door, making whole class crane their necks towards the threshold’s tiny glass window where a boy with black fringe is standing.

Mr. Moon motions for the new student to come in, and he does, in an awkward scuffle of feet. Once he’s actually inside the classroom, the boy instantly moves to Mr. Moon’s side, holding out some sort of paperwork while also looking slightly panicked; Jaehyun thinks it’s pretty cute.

Before Jaehyun’s brain can go any further with connecting the dots, Mr. Moon’s soft voice is cutting through the meaningless chatter of students. “Alright, guys, settle down. This is Lee Minhyung, an exchange student from Canada. Say hello,” the older man ushers, showing _Minhyung_ to the front of the room to introduce himself.

Jaehyun’s mouth is dry as he gets his first full glance of the Canadian boy. Like all other students on campus, he’s wearing the standard khaki pants and white polo matched with a navy blue blazer with the school’s crest stitched on the front pocket. Similar to Jaehyun’s, his hair is black and long, styled out of his face carefully to only show just below his eyes, which are shiny and brown and all types of charming. Even his cheekbones are cut sharply, becoming more obvious as he grins, showcasing two rows of teeth that are adorably rounded at the ends.

All in all, Minhyung’s incredibly handsome in a boyish sort of way and Jaehyun’s absolutely fucking _enamored_ by it.

“Uh, hi. I’m Minhyung but I go by Mark. It’s nice to meet you all,” he recites, clearly having gone over this more than once within the last school day. His cheeks are flushed pink as he tries to not make eye contact with anyone, eyes fluttering around the room from face to face. At last, he spots Jaehyun, but his focus jolts instantaneously as Mr. Moon claps a hand on his shoulder, then points to the vacant seat next to Jaehyun.

Mr. Moon, oblivious to the color draining rapidly from Jaehyun’s face, smiles at him toothily. “Jaehyun, raise your hand, please. Mark’s going to sit next to you,” he states, as if it’s casual and _not_ the end of Jaehyun’s pathetic life as he knows it.

Jaehyun does as he’s told and without any further discussion, Mark makes his way towards Jaehyun’s spot. He goes to pull out the chair to sit, but frowns when he sees Jaehyun’s incredibly bulky bag in the way. “Ah, sorry. I didn’t know we were getting a new student,” Jaehyun explains as he lugs the bag up and onto the floor. “I’m Jaehyun, by the way. But I think you know that already?” Mark laughs at the very forced joke and Jaehyun appreciates that way more than he wants to admit.

“Oh yeah,” he giggles, “I know. I’m Mark, but I’m 100% sure you already know that,” he replies, effortlessly playing along with a smile that could outshine the sun.

He plops his own backpack onto the floor and pulls out an inky black journal Jaehyun assumes he’d been using all day in the stead of actual school supplies seeing as it’s only his first day here. He almost doesn’t think too much of it until he spots an eerily familiar yellow and black crescent at the top right corner, almost mocking him. There are a multitude of other stickers on the notebook and Jaehyun knows he really shouldn’t read too much into this, but the stupid Hufflepuff badger stamped on Mark’s journal is a fucking _sign_ if he’s ever seen one because who else other than die-hard Harry Potter fans would proudly display their “house” on a highly visible object in a very public place? No one.

“Do you like Harry Potter?” The words are out of Jaehyun’s out before he can stop himself and the shift in Mark’s expression gives him the answer he’d been hoping for. “Because if so I have something you’ll really like,” he admits sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Mr. Moon’s back is to them as he continues to scribble assignment instructions on the board but Mark’s so new here he doesn’t cut their teacher a glance at all; his entire focus is on Jaehyun as he grins brightly, splitting his face in half. “Yeah, I do. How’d you know?” The question is very obviously rhetorical, seeing as Mark’s cheeks are dusted a pink so vibrant he’d be visible a mile away.

Jaehyun stifles a cackle with his hand, relief and elation flooding him in droves. “Because I’ve been carrying around the entire fucking series all day looking for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading! comments/kudos are always appreciated! 
> 
> twitter + curious cat: m4rk1ee
> 
> also: if u were wondering mark's soulmate gift for jae is expensive ass chanel cologne we all know he wears :)))))


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